​After suffering eight years of recession, Puerto Rico is contemplating more than a hundred different proposals intended to jumpstart its sagging economy – including legal prostitution and marijuana use.

After suffering eight years of recession, Puerto Rico is
contemplating more than a hundred different proposals intended to
jumpstart its sagging economy – including legal prostitution and
marijuana use.

Considering the commonwealth’s dire situation – according to
Fusion.net, unemployment is at 15 percent, while 45 percent of
the population is living in poverty – lawmakers have been
accepting proposals from all comers, including the general
public.

Nearly 370 different ideas to dig the government out of $70
billion in debt were submitted, and lawmakers have picked out 156
of them for further consideration. According to the Associated
Press, the proposals range from eliminating various government
agencies to cutting down the number of public holidays.

As for legalizing prostitution and marijuana, the government
committee in charge of considering the proposals will also be
taking a look at both of these options.

“We are studying all alternatives and all
possibilities,” Sen. Maria Teresa Gonzalez said to the AP.
“Change always brings inconvenience. I’m convinced that
before we talk about something as dramatic and disastrous as
layoffs, we have to consider other ideas.”

Whether or not the government will actually move forward with
such action is up in the air, as doing so would require public
hearings, approval by the commonwealth’s legislative branch, and
the support of Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla.

In addition to sanctioning prostitution and marijuana, Gonzalez’s
party has proposed cutting the number of public holidays from 20
to six, claiming that such a move would save $500 million a year.

Others, such as Rep. Ricardo Llerandi Cruz, have suggested doing
away with 41 government agencies, some of which he claims are
redundant. He stated his proposal would save $160 million just in
administrative costs.

"Puerto Rico is facing the worst fiscal crisis in all of its
history," Cruz said to the AP. "We need to refocus or
revisit governmental priorities to face these problems."

Shrinking Puerto Rico’s debt has become the central goal for Gov.
Padilla, who has assured investors and credit agencies that he’ll
reduce a deficit of $820 million. Exactly how this will happen
remains unclear, however, leaving some residents concerned the
government will ignore the public’s proposals and resort to
raising taxes, laying people off, and cutting public services.

Unconvinced that positive changes will occur, 450,000 Puerto
Ricans have decided to pack up and move to the mainland United
States as a result.

"It is very difficult to change the inertia of this
island," attorney Manuel Lugo told the AP. "There has
been no economic plan for decades. What they do here is repair
and patch holes. That's not how you run a country.”